Secrets in Ink
by green-phoenix85
Summary: Sakura discovers the deepest, darkest secrets of the elder, Danzo, that he has kept from Konoha and it’s a secret that can either begin the biggest war in Shinobi history or stop it before it begins.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Secrets in Ink

Author: greenphoenix85

Short Summary: Sakura discovers the deepest, darkest secrets of the elder, Danzo, that he has kept from Konoha and it's a secret that can either begin the biggest war in Shinobi history or stop it before it begins.

Pairings: Sakura/Sai, Naruto/Hinata, Sasuke/Karin, Gaara/ooc (ME!!)

Warning: Rated T, but might go up; for very strong language, violence, and adult themes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of its characters.

* * *

**Introduction:**

Many years ago, a terrible Shinobi war broke out, which ravaged the land. Many were killed from all of the Great Five Countries; Fire, Wind, Water, Lightning, and Earth. There was so much hate and blood shed that the entire land literately became the Land of Blood. Families were divided, and friends were lost. There was so much fighting that the Great Shinobi War became the worst war in history. However, no one truly knows how it all began. What brought on this war in the first place? Truth be told, it all began with a love that was so forbidden.

Danzo's Diary

* * *

**Chapter One**

Blink. Blink. Blink.

"Uh…..Tsunade-Shishou, can you run that by me again? What do you want me to do?" Sakura Haruno asked staring wide eyed at her mentor.

Tsunade sighed as she looked at her student with aggravation. She didn't want to repeat it. It was too dangerous to even speak about this mission the first time. Especially when she was in the Administration Offices, nonetheless. Anyone could have heard if she repeated it. If anyone found out about this mission, everything she had done for Konoha would be for nothing and it would bring chaos onto her and the village, itself. If HE every found out about this, not only would she die, but probably Sakura, herself. "Sakura, for the last time, open your ears. I can't repeat this mission briefing too much or someone will hear it." The Fifth Hokage grumbled before shaking her head. "Alright. One more time then. I am upping your rank to Jounin and you will begin training as an ANBU for this mission. You must be ready within the month though for this mission needs to be done ASAP. The mission will be an S ranked one, so it will be highly dangerous." She then sighed when Sakura looked rather hesitant. "Sakura, out of most of the village, you are the only one I trust. I trust Shizune the most but I can't send her on this mission. She's not qualified for it. I would have someone else do it, if there was anyone else but there's not. I need you to do it."

There was a long silence as Sakura took it all into thought. She couldn't believe that Tsunade was making her Jounin already. Much less, having her become an ANBU. Now that was something that she had never even considered on becoming. She had heard the stories. It was a very dangerous job. And now Tsunade was asking her to become ANBU for a mission? "I….I don't think I would make a good ANBU though, Shishou." She said rather uneasily.

"Sakura, if I didn't think you could do this job, I wouldn't have asked." Tsunade said frowning at the pink haired Kunoichi. She then sighed as she folded her hands in front of her. "Sakura, you can do this. I know you can. You are strong and you can do whatever you put your mind to." She told her.

Again, Sakura hesitated but then she sighed and nodded, looking serious again. "All right then, Shishou. I'll do it if you really believe in me." She paused. "But can I ask you why do I need to become an ANBU and what kind of S mission is this?"

Tsunade paused for a long moment as she tried to chose her words carefully. She knew that if she wasn't careful, she'd scare her student away. But she knew that Sakura needed the details. So she motioned her student to come closer, who obeyed immediately. "The mission requires two ANBU. However, there is only one ANBU that I trust and then you. So therefore I need you to become the second. I want you to be trained as an ANBU so that you will be able to do this mission. It's a very top secret mission that requires your full attention. Not even the Elders know about this mission, god forbid that. I don't really want to discuss the full details of this mission, not until I know you're ready for it." She told her pink haired student.

"Shishou, I think I should know about it." Sakura said, tilting her head in concern. "That way I know of what to expect." She stated.

Again the Fifth sighed before shaking her head. "All right, Sakura. But in a moment I'll tell you what it is. First, I should probably tell you what requirements you will need." She paused as she looked directly into Sakura's eyes. "You will be trained by an ANBU, who will be your partner while on this mission. She will be teaching you everything you need to know about ANBU, but like I said, you need to be ready in a month. So it's going to be very hard. It usually takes years to become ANBU but you only have 30 days. It will be hardcore training. You will need to be able to hit a bulls-eye in target practice, excellent in Taijutsu, and expert in Genjutsu, which you already are. And you will also need to be exceptionally swift in Ninjutsu. Your Ninjutsu isn't bad but it does need a little work. However, there is something else that you're going to need." She made a face at the though.

"…….what is it?" Sakura asked a little worried.

Tsunade was still making her face but then shook her head to be rid of it. She knew Sakura wasn't going to like this last one. She didn't like it herself. But it was needed. Especially for this particularly mission, which dealt with HIM. "Sakura, you will need to learn how to lock your emotions up. You can not show your emotions whatsoever on this mission. You can not show any anger, no sadness. No anything. You can't even smile that much while on it." She explained.

Sakura looked at her in surprise. She wasn't entirely sure what her mentor was talking about but she had an inkling. She was pretty sure that Tsunade was trying to tell her that she had to be just like Sai, her emotionally handicapped teammate. "What? You mean…..no emotions period? Like Sai?" She asked, making a face.

Again Tsunade made a face but nodded. "It's just for the mission, Sakura. But yes. No emotions at all. I suggest you try taking lessons of how to hide your emotions from Sai, but he cannot know about this mission. Not even a hint. If he finds out about this mission, it's all over. He will report to his supervisor, Danzo, and if he knows, it will be all over. Everything we've done for this village will fall apart." She told her.

Sakura frowned but then looked worried. "The mission is what then, Shishou?" She asked quietly.

"……" Tsunade sighed before she looked very seriously into Sakura's eyes. "Since your last mission to recover Sasuke Uchiha…..for heaven's sakes, Sakura! Knock it off!" She exclaimed when Sakura curled up into a fetal position, brooding at the very sound of Sasuke's name. "As I was saying, since that mission, I have been very suspicious of Danzo. Especially when he ordered Sai to kill Sasuke….." She began glaring at the pink haired girl when she did it again. "Since he ordered Sasuke's death…..Sakura!"

"Sorry, Shishou." Sakura murmured as she snapped to attention from her fetal position and tried to look serious about it.

"Anyway!" Tsunade continued. "I haven't really started trusting Danzo since he faked a deal with Orochimaru to get to….your former teammate. He's got too many secrets and I don't like it. He's hiding things from me and it's making me feel uneasy. So I need you to find out what he's hiding. But to do that, you must be ANBU. Only ANBU can pretty much go near him without him being all paranoid. It's not S ranked for no reason, Sakura. Danzo might be old, but he's extremely powerful. And he has a lot of authority over the ANBU. Most of them look up to him and he would be Hokage if it weren't for me. But the problem is……well, you know."

Sakura frowned at the thought be slowly nodded. "You're in his way. Do you think he's trying to plan your assassination then?" She asked in worry.

Tsunade frowned thoughtfully but then narrowed her eyes. She didn't like that idea but she knew it was something that Danzo would do. "For his own sake, he better not be." She then shrugged. "Anyway, I need you to be prepared for this. So for a month, you will be trained by an ANBU until I believe you are ready for your mission. In the mean time, you need to convince your teammate, Sai, to teach you how to control your emotions. You can't tell him the exact reason why but it needs to be done." She paused looking at the door. "I think it's time that you met your partner now. Wolf, come on in."

At that very moment, the door opened and in came in a tall ANBU, no doubt a woman. She was wearing the traditional ANBU uniform with a mask of a Wolf face. She had long dark violate hair which fell down to her lower waist. Sakura couldn't make out her eyes because of the mask but she could already tell that this woman was very pretty. She had such a curvy form that it wouldn't be hard for a man to get distracted by her. On her back, the ANBU carried two Katana. And on her right arm, Sakura caught sight of a red tattoo. Still, Sakura was surprised that she had been there. She hadn't been aware that someone was just standing on the other side of the door.

"Sakura, meet your new partner who will be training you the ways of ANBU, Wolf." Tsunade told her before motioning to the ANBU. "Wolf, remove your mask and introduce yourself to her."

The ANBU nodded before she reached up with a gloved hand and took off her mask to reveal that she did have a very gorgeous face. Her eyes were a deep brown. "Hello. My name is Yugao Uzuki." She said, with a moonlight like voice. Sakura just nodded as she bowed at the waist to her. "Hello, Yugao-chan. I'm Sakura Haruno." She told her.

"Yugao, you've been briefed on the mission already so there's no need to repeat what I've told Sakura. You are to train her as if she's becoming an ANBU. Teach her everything she needs to know. The codes, the fighting styles that's expected. Everything." Tsunade told her. Yugao only nodded as she bowed to her again to the Fifth. "Very well, my lady." She looked over at Sakura again. "What is going to be your new name?"

"Huh?" Sakura asked frowning.

Tsunade shook her head as she leaned back into her chair. "She means your ANBU name. The ANBU don't usually go by their given names. They go by symbolic names; usually animalistic or Elemental. Yugao, here, is Wolf." She told her.

Sakura slowly nodded in understanding as she took in the information. She was starting to understand what she meant. She had to come up with a new name that suited her. She could have just came up with a simple one, like 'Cherry' or 'Blossom', but then that made her pull a face. She was already called that and ANBU names were suppose to hide her true identity. So it wouldn't work. So what else would work?

After a while, she settled for Panther and told the two other women her new name.

The name 'Panther' made Tsunade raise eyebrow but she just shrugged while Yugao smirked at the name. "Panther, huh? The Pink Panther." She said, almost teasingly. Sakura made a face, knowing that choosing Panther might have been a bad idea. There was no doubt that her new partner would resist teasing her now. Tsunade just shook her head as she held up a hand to Yugao to drop the teasing before looking at Sakura. "All right. From now on, you are Panther. You will not use this name around your teammates though. Only when you've become an official ANBU. Kakashi and probably Yamato knows about your new rank and very little about your new mission but not all. They know that you're training to become ANBU and that's all they will know. Naruto and Sai have no clue, nor are you allowed to tell them. Your new training as Panther will begin first thing in the morning." The Fifth paused for a moment before making a face. "Sakura, there is one thing I would like to discuss with you. What is your opinions on tattoos?"

Sakura's eyes widened at the very word. She hadn't even thought about tattoos before. Her mother had always told her that she was never to mark her body with tattoos if she could help it. She always said that tattoos were a way to destroy your body. But then again, now that Sakura thought about it, her mother had a tattoo of an old boyfriend's name on her ankle with a heart surrounding it. Sakura, herself, though never even thought about getting a tattoo. "Tattoos? Um…..well, I really wasn't planning on getting one, if that's what you meant. But if I have to, I will." She said, glancing at Yugao's tattoo on her arm.

Yugao just nodded as she looked at her through heavy lidded eyes. She reached up and touched her red tattoo on her arm, before nodding. "All ANBU bear this marking. It's a symbol that stats that one is a dangerous assassin for the ANBU. Bein one, even for a mission, you must have one. If you try and fake the tattoo, you will only get caught. And if you get caught, there is a heavy price. Pretending to be an ANBU like this means death. So it will be better if you get one." She told her.

Tsunade only nodded. "Don't worry, Sakura. After the mission, if you don't want the tattoo, I can take it off for you. I know a technique that deals with tattoo removals." She told her.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura nodded. "All right, Shishou. I'll do it then. When should I start?" She asked smiling.

"We will begin tomorrow, early morning." Yugao told her, her voice rather emotionless all of a sudden. Sakura looked rather surprised by how she talked but then nodded. She knew it was probably better not to argue and listen to her new partner. So with a bow to Tsunade, the pink haired girl was starting to leave. But Tsunade called her after her, making her stop in the door way. "Remember, try to talk Sai into teaching you about controlling your emotions." She told her then allowed her to go.

* * *

Sakura made her way through the village trying to think of a way of how she was going to convince Sai, of all people, how to be emotionless. She knew it was going to be very hard for her. Especially for her. She was full of emotions. How in the world did Tsunade expect her to be able to lock up her emotions like Sai? Well, either way, Sakura knew she would have to convince him without any suspicion. Nor give him any ideas. But then again, he was an idiot as it was. It shouldn't give him any ideas. Still it worried her. What if it did give Sai ideas?

'Ugh!! This is so going to be hard! More than less, difficult! Besides, I absolutely hate Sai! He's so rude and obnoxious! Not to mention he's so inconsiderate!' Sakura thought savagely to herself. 'And he keeps calling me 'Ugly'! What's the deal with that?!'

"Hey, Ugly."

Speak of the devil.

Sakura's face turned very red from anger when she heard the usual nickname that she just thought of. She felt her fists ball up tightly until she cracked her knuckles before she turned slowly around and glared at the pale ninja in black. He was walking towards her, carrying his stupid sketch book and with that stupid fake smile on his face. Sakura so wanted to punch it right off his face, but knew if she did, she would never get him to teach her.

So she swallowed her pride and tried to be nice. "Hi, Sai." She hissed through gritted teeth before she suddenly came up with a sudden idea. She knew this had to be her chance. So she slouched her shoulders, looking very pathetic. "How are you?" She murmured, sorrowfully.

As she had hoped, Sai blinked before tilting his head to the side. He had caught onto that she might have been upset about something. "Hmm? It something wrong?" he asked quietly. Sakura just turned slightly away, forcing herself to look a little embarrassed and waving a hand at him. "Oh! No, no, no! Everything's fine." She said trying to sound very unconvincing. "I'm just……well, don't worry about it."

"Oh. Okay." Sai said now turning away.

A sharp tick appeared at Sakura's temple as she glared at his back. She couldn't believe this guy! She was doing the worst acting possible so he'd get the idea that something was wrong and he was still being inconsiderate. So with a look of rage on her face, she lashed out and grabbed a hold of his jacket before yanking him after her. "On second thought, why don't you join me for lunch and I'll tell you all about it!" She growled between her teeth as she dragged him down the road. It looked rather odd with her dragging him, while he looked very puzzled as he let her.

Soon they were sitting at the Ramen stand, eating ramen together in silence. Sakura was still trying to think about how she was going to talk Sai into teaching her about emotion lessons. She had no idea how to even begin. She glanced over at her teammate, who ate his ramen silently while staring forward. He didn't look at her at all as they sat next to each other. So Sakura decided to just jump right to it. So she slouched on her stool, looking pathetic again. "You know, Sai. You are so lucky." She said, catching his attention.

That got his attention a little. He tilted his head towards her, in blank surprise. "Hmm? Why do you say that?"

Sakura sighed as she looked into her ramen, somewhat playing with the remaining noodles inside the cup. She kept her eyes a little heavy lidded, as if she was sad about something. She had to play this part right to make Sai help her. "You're just so lucky that you have no emotions to express. You're so good at hiding them. Sometimes I wish I could." She said, hopelessly. She saw Sai tilt his head towards her, looking intentively at her. He was no doubt very curious of why Sakura was like this. She felt herself smirk inwardly but had to force herself not to in front of him.

**'Cha!! I think we got 'em!!' **Inner Sakura cheered with a fist raised.

Sai, however, narrowed his eyes a little at her before looking back at his bowl of ramen. "Why?" He asked dryly.

Sakura just shook her head as she poked her noddles with her chopsticks and then stirred them around. "Oh no big reason, I guess...well, I'm getting tired of over reacting all of the time when Naruto does something stupid and you keep calling me names." She then gave him a sharp look as she pointed at him with one chop stick. "That hurts my feelings by the way, when you keep calling me...well, you know." She said making a face.

"What, ugly?" Sai asked harmlessly though there was a hint of a smirk on his face.

The pink haired girl's eye started to twitch as she started to glare at him but fought herself to keeping calm with a dull look on her face. She just wanted to punch Sai's lights out right about for his carelessness of the usage of rude names. "Yeah. Ugly. It really hurts my feelings, Sai. I'm getting tired of it. I just wish I could be able to mask all my emotions as good as you could. It would hurt your feelings if I kept calling you ugly all of the time." She said, not being able to mask her anger. She was very happy when Sai drew back a little at her sudden fury. She knew this was usually a time she started punching him. However, she wouldn't do it this time. "Or maybe I should call you an Emo. It really suits you, you know." She said dryly.

"What's an Emo?" Sai asked, tilting his head, looking almost innocent when he asked that question.

Sakura just sighed as she shook her head and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Never mind. That's besides the point, Sai. I'm getting tired of being so emotional. It makes me look weak. Especially when someone has the nerve to say Sasuke's name." She found herself shudder in grief when she said the name herself. "It just hurts to even think of him. I hate the fact that it hurts. I wish I could be more like you." She said before getting a bright eyed look and looked at him. "Hey! Maybe you can teach me, Sai! You know, teach me how to lock away my emotions that way I'm not so emotional. Wouldn't that be..."

Sai looked at her blankly before he looked away from her. "No." He simply said as he lift his bowl to his mouth.

Sakura blinked in surprise before her face fell into a look of anger. She even felt her hands ball up into tight fists until her knuckles cracked. She couldn't believe he didn't let her finish what she was saying. Well, he was always a rude one but seriously! She even felt a small tick on the side of her face as she began to glare at him. "Sai, it would mean a lot to me if you would teach me how to be emotionless like you." She said, trying to keep herself from blowing up on him. However, Sai didn't look at her as he drained the ramen broth then set the bowl down again in front of him. He even started to stand up as if to leave but he stopped when Sakura lashed out and caught his wrist, looking pleadingly up at him. "Sai! Please just teach me! I can't stand it anymore!" She begged, hoping it would work.

Sai just blinked once as he stared her blankly in the eyes before he slowly shook his head. He reached over and gently took her hand clasping his and pried it off. He didn't let go of her hand just yet as he motioned to his blank face. "This look, the one that I always wear," He began calmly. "This look would not suit you. So, no." He told her before he pulled out his money bag and pulled out a few bills. Sakura had been too surprised when he said that to even realize that he was suddenly gone by using his Ink teleportation Jutsu.

But after a long moment of staring at where he had been standing, she finally realized that he was gone. "ARGH!! I hate him!" Sakura groaned before grabbing her purse and starting to pull out her money to pay for her ramen.

"Uh, Sakura." Ayame, the Ramen girl said softly and catching her attention. She had been gathering up Sai's money when she realized something about how much there was. "You probably don't have to pay for your ramen. Your friend also paid for yours."

Sakura blinked in surprise as she looked at the money in Ayame's hand then realized it was true. Sai had paid for his and her bowls of ramen. If that was any other day, she would have thought that was sweet of her emotionless teammate. Instead, she was severely pissed off. Balling up her fists tightly, she stood up as her face went completely red. "ARGGHHH!! So he can buy me lunch but he can't teach me how to be emotionless?! I'll kill him when I get my hands on him!!" She screamed in rage before storming away from the ramen shop, leaving a very shocked Ayame and stunned customers.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Secrets in Ink

Author: greenphoenix85

Short Summary: Sakura discovers the deepest, darkest secrets of the elder, Danzo, that he has kept from Konoha and it's a secret that can either begin the biggest war in Shinobi history or stop it before it begins.

Pairings: Sakura/Sai, Naruto/Hinata, Sasuke/Karin, Gaara/ooc (ME!!)

Warning: Rated T, but might go up; for very strong language, violence, and brief sexuality.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of its characters.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

For the most part of the day, Sakura had looked everywhere for Sai, trying to find out where he might have been hiding from her. It was obvious he was hiding because she didn't find him anywhere. She looked everywhere. She even asked people if they knew where to find him. But no one really could answer her question. No one really knew Sai very well. He was always so secretive and always kept to himself or to his paintings. Not even the members Team Seven knew about him. All they knew was that he was an ANBU member and he had been assigned to killing Sasuke Uchiha when they were suppose to return him to the village. But he had failed his mission by his own choice. He couldn't kill Sasuke because of Naruto and their bond together.

Sakura spent hours trying to find out where to find Sai. She would have gone to his apartment to see if he was there, if only she actually knew where he lived. But she couldn't. She would have to wait till the next time she saw him to beat the living hell out of him for ditching her like that and refusing her request. So with a sigh, she went home for the evening.

The next morning, it was too early for Sakura to even be awake when she was rudely awakened by feeling the cool metal of a blade against her neck. She jerked awake, thrashing a little and almost screamed when a gloved hand covered her mouth. Her wide eyes searched frantically for who was sitting on top of her, while she tried to shove the person off, but they were pinning her down. And it was too dark to see who her attacker was.

"You would be so easy to kill. You know that right?" came the silky voice of her new partner.

Eyes wide open, Sakura shivered as she looked straight up to see the silhouette of her violate haired ANBU partner sitting right on top of her, straddling her stomach. She watched as the shadow shifted over and flipped on the lamp light, blinding her. The pink haired woman winced at the sudden bright light before letting it re-adjust her eyes. She looked up to see Yugao Uzuki fully dressed in her ANBU uniform and it was one of her katana that was pressed against her throat. But much more to her relief, she was using the flat side of the blade and not the sharp side. The look, however, on Yugao's face was not amusement. She looked rather annoyed that Sakura hadn't been able to defend herself properly from getting attacked while sleeping.

"We have a lot of work to do with you, Sakura Haruno." The ANBU said before she pushed her wolf mask over her face and climbed right off of her.

Sakura continued to lay there watching her with wide eyes before she realized that she was not dreaming. She had thought that she had still been asleep and that Yugao was not in her apartment. But no. Here she was, standing next to her bed, looking at a picture of the old Team Seven on the bed stand. "Ho-how did you get into my apartment?! I locked the doors and the windows!" She said as she sat up.

Yugao only glanced over at her before looking around Sakura's room. She seemed to find a few interesting objects in the room, though still was somewhat annoyed with Sakura. "A skilled ANBU can get into any room, locked or not. We're trained to pick locks, latches or even lift hooks with a piece of wire. I'll teach you that too. It's not entirely easy but it's not hard either." She paused looking back at Sakura as she climbed out of bed. "You need to learn how to keep your guard up though. You would do so much better if you did. An enemy could easily sneak up to you and slit your throat before you even knew it." She warned her.

Sakura just frowned at her before looking at her clock to see what time it was. She almost fell back down onto the bed when she saw that it was four in the morning. Something that she was not used to at all. "Geez! Why are you here so early? It's……"

Yugao gave her a raised eyebrow look as she placed her hands onto her waist. She was obviously not amused at all. "Training, Pink Panther. We are starting your training today. The ANBU practically work around the clock. We don't sleep as much as the other ninja do. You'll adjust to it after a week or two." She then shrugged. "Now hurry it up and get dressed. I suggest a cold shower this morning to wake you up more. This will be the roughest training you are ever going to go through in your life. Better bring lots of water. You'll get dehydrated quickly." She told her before heading out of the room. Sakura sighed but did as she was told.

The first thing they did was go straight to the Forest of Death. From what Yugao said, and much to Sakura's uneasiness, they would do most of their training there. Most of the ANBU trained in the forest, due to how dangerous it was. It was mostly the only challenge for them in the entire village. Once they reached the forest, Yugao had Sakura stretch for ten minutes before they began to run through the forest. And it wasn't jogging for Sakura having to do. It was full out running. They had to dodge several giant animals like the snakes and insects. A few of them attacked the two so they didn't really have a choice but to fight right back. Yugao wouldn't let Sakura stop until she nearly fell down from exhaustion. It was around that time they took a half an hour breathing break before they began to spar with one another. Sakura learned very quickly that Yugao was not the kind of person who took things easy on sparring partners at all. Even if they were an under experienced. She told Sakura that an enemy would never give her a break. She also explained that an ANBU must always be wary of their surroundings.

"You must keep all senses open. Listen through your attacker's loud screaming voice. Smell through the blood and sweat. Taste the very flavor on every breath. And even watch for the slightest movement. You must use your senses to stay alive." Yugao told Sakura, who only nodded. "Do this, and you will stay alive. The job of an ANBU is very dangerous. It is the most dangerous job of being ninja. We have many enemies, even among our own village."

The two of them also did a lot of meditating while working on Sakura's senses. They would listen to the noises of the forest, pinpointing certain animal calls and trying to estimate the distance they were at. It was very hard for Sakura to pass these lessons but she tried. When sparring with Yugao, Sakura also learned that her partner was in deed like a wolf in many ways. She was extremely swift on her feet and a lot of power behind her fists. She was also very stealth like, always disappearing and reappearing whenever she felt like it. She was no doubt a perfect spy. When she struck, it was hard and painful. There were times that Yugao was playful while sparring with Sakura. So she was no doubt a wolf stylist. Once they finished training for the night, starved and sore, Sakura made her way down the road with Yugao at her side, looking highly amused of how well the pink haired girl was progressing. She offered her to buy her dinner for the first week's abuse. The pink haired ninja gratefully accepted while telling Yugao about herself. She told her about how she grew up being picked on because of her large forehead. Then she explained on how she had been in love with Sasuke Uchiha and how hard it had been when she tried to impress him but never had it work. It hurt her a lot to tell Yugao about how she was, and still is, the weakest of Team Seven. The only strong techniques she had were what she learned from Tsunade.

Yugao, however, smiled to herself as she listened to Sakura before shaking her head. "You don't give yourself enough credit, Sakura." She said, catching her partner's attention. "By the sound of it, you are not a panther at all." She smiled even more when Sakura looked away with a forlorn look. "You are a Tiger." That caught Sakura's attention again. "A tiger always starts off as a weak creature and not being able to defend itself. It must always have protection from the dangers of life. But as it grows, with experience, it becomes very powerful. It is a strong and powerful animal. It also possesses a nasty temper, which you must admit that you have, and it can strike with such power behind its claws. In a way, you possess the quality of a tiger. So therefore, you will no longer be called Panther. You will be called Tiger." The ANBU said looking at Sakura softly.

Sakura smiled right back as she listened to Yugao's words. She was kind of glad for meeting this woman. She was kind when she wanted to be, yet stern when she needed to be. She was a little protective too, now that she thought about it. Yugao had protected Sakura several times from giant snakes before ripping them apart with her katana.

There was still one thing that bothered Sakura and that was Sai. For the entire week she had tried to hunt him down but he seemed to be avoiding Sakura. When she did find him and asked him once again to teach her how to be emotionless, he completely refused and then would vanish from sight. Agitated, the pink haired young woman voiced her complaints to Yugao, who laughed while they were training.

"So Sai is being difficult, huh? That sounds about him. He's always been a difficult one to get along with." The ANBU said making Sakura look at her in surprise. It sounded as if she knew Sai. But before she could ask, Yugao shook her head. "We'll wait a couple of days before dealing with him. That way, I'll have a week to teach you something that will help you convince him to teach you." She told her.

"Huh?" Sakura asked frowning. "Teach me what?"

Yugao just smiled rather slyly at her as they sat down to meditate after doing their early morning run. That was definitely a smile of a wolf, a predator that just chose her prey. "You are aware that Sai is ANBU, correct?" A nod from Sakura. "Well, with the training I'm going to put you through now, you will not only be able convince Sai to teach you, you will become the best pick pocketer. And that's a skill that ANBU will need." She told her.

"Pick pocketing?" Sakura asked in alarm.

Again, Yugao nodded as she smiled at her. "Steal something of Sai's and hold it ransom until he agrees to teach you, Sakura. That's your only option. Do this, you will have the lessons you need. But you will also be able to test your stealth and speed of your hands. Sai would be the perfect one to test it out on. He's not the easiest to steal from." She explained.

Sakura looked a little worried either way. "Do you think I'll be ready?" She asked, biting her lip.

Yugao nodded as she kept her sly smile on her face. She reached up and brushed a long strand of hair out of her eyes before dropping her hand back into her lap. "Oh yeah. With me as your teacher, you will be a perfect thief. I'm the only one in the entire village that has managed to steal something from Sai before he actually noticed something missing." She told her grinning.

And the lessons began.

Yugao showed Sakura how to pick pocket first. She had used the pink haired woman as a target first, managing to steal a bracelet right off of her wrist without her even noticing. It amazed Sakura greatly. She hadn't even felt her bracelet come off. Then they would choose random people off the street, pick pocketing them before giving their items back. They would pretend that the person had dropped it, just so that they didn't arouse any suspicion. It worked for the most part. Only a few times Sakura had been caught.

The skilled ANBU observed Sakura for the most part before deciding that she wasn't going to be able to teach her a few things. Yugao frowned as she sparred with Sakura at the end of the week before stopping. "You know, with the Taijutsu you'll need for this mission, I don't think I'm going to be able to teach you everything. I mostly rely on Genjutsu and Ninjutsu. Those I can teach you. But you still need a little work on your Taijutsu. Do you know anyone that could help you in that area?" She asked, while they took a break. At the sound of that, Sakura sweat dropped. She knew very well who could help her with the Taijutsu, not that she was going to like it.

* * *

"Sakura-chan!" Rock Lee cheered when he spotted the pink haired girl and her ANBU partner, who was dressed in civilian clothing; black skin tight pants, deep violate halter top and her dark hair was pulled up into a loose ponytail, walking towards him and the rest of his team; Neji Hyuga and Tenten. The bowl cut Taijutsu specialist rushed forward with his arms held outward and before Sakura could protest, he scooped her up and gave her a bear hug, cracking her back a little from squeezing her.

"Lee!" Sakura gasped as he squeeze all of the air out of her.

Neji and Tenten both sweat dropped and sighed. They might have been teammates with Lee for so long but they were still not used to his weird personality. But still, they were annoyed with him. "Lee, put her down now, you idiot! You're going to make her pass out!" The weapon specialist kunioichi said with annoyance.

Lee immediately set Sakura back down on her feet while grinning sheepishly at her and rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry, Sakura-chan! I was just so excited to see you! My! You get as lovely as a flower every day! Maybe we should have dinner sometime! Please, Sakura-chan! Let me take you out tonight!" He said grinning at her. Sakura just gave him a dry look but shook her head. "Ah, no thanks, Lee." She then straightened as she looked right at him. "Actually, I came to see you about something. I need your guys' help." She told them.

All three of the members of Team Gai straightened with a look of surprise on their faces but then they looked rather serious. It was obvious that Sakura hadn't really come for a social call. So why not get down to business? Neji just tilted his head to the side as he looked Sakura right in the eye. "What is it, Sakura? Is something wrong?" He asked, frowning.

Sakura turned and glanced over at Yugao, who looked right back at her before she shrugged and placed her hand onto her waist. She was going to let the pink haired girl deal with this one. They both had already talked about what they were going to tell these three and what not to say. So Sakura nodded as she looked seriously back at Lee, Neji and Tenten. "All right. I can't go into the direct details but there's a mission that I'm going to be doing coming up but the problem is, I'm not completely ready yet. I need a little help working on……well," She made a face when she knew she must have looked stupid. "I kind of need help on working on my Taijutsu and working on throwing a bull's eye at targets. And since you guys are pretty much the best at Taijutsu and target practice, I was hoping……" She was saying only to stop when Lee began jumping up and down in excitement and throwing a fist into the air.

"Of course we will help you, Sakura-chan! I will do all my best to teaching you to become the best Taijutsu Kunoichi! I swear my life on it!" Lee said cheerfully before giving her a thumbs up and a sparkling grin.

Neji and Tenten both rolled their eyes while Sakura slouched over with a sweat drop on the side of her face. Yugao was snickering though as she watched. She was somewhat amused that this Lee fellow was so enthusiastic about helping Sakura. She figured it was better this way. He wasn't even asking questions about her mission. Not that she or Sakura would tell them about it. "Thanks, Lee." Sakura said before looking at Neji and Tenten. "Guys? Can you help me?"

Both Neji and Tenten looked at one another before they both shrugged and looked back at her. "Sure. I'll help you out with your weapon accuracy." The weapon specialist told her. The pale-eyed ninja folded his arms over his chest before shifting his weight. "I'm just curious. What kind of mission is it that you're doing? And exactly how could I help you?" He asked, a little dryly.

Again, Sakura glanced over at Yugao who now moved forward, her head dipped down a little. "It's an S class mission." The ANBU officer said smirking at the long-haired ninja. And that was all she needed to say. She knew if these guys were smart, they wouldn't ask too many questions.

Lee and Tenten both straightened with surprise but Neji's head dipped down as he looked directly into the ANBU's eyes with his pale ones. He was quiet for a long moment before he nodded. "So it's a top secret one." His eyes flickered over at Sakura. "One that not a Chuunin would ever go on. So I'm taking it, you're no longer a Chuunin." Again, Lee and Tenten looked very surprised but Sakura's face grew rather serious as she dipped her head down and looked right into Neji's white eyes. She didn't need to tell him anything. He had already guessed it. The Hyuga prodigy slowly nodded before he lift his head up again. "All right. We will help you. Lee will teach you Taijutsu. Tenten will help you work on your accuracy with throwing blades. And I will help you become a little faster in dodging attacks and blades. How long do you have before your mission?"

"A month. It's not a lot of time to train but with each passing day, I should get better than I already am by the time the mission starts." Sakura told them in a quiet voice, not wanting anyone else to over hear, if there were any eavesdroppers. She doubted it though. If there were, Yugao probably would have been off like a bat out of hell kicking the hell out of them.

Neji just nodded before he looked at his teammates, who looked back at him. All three of them agreed with one another in a silent way. They would help Sakura as much as they could, without telling anyone about it. "You can count on us to help you then, Sakura." Tenten said smirking at the pink haired girl. Sakura smiled right back and nodded. Then she glanced over at Yugao, who gave her a nod of an approval. "Okay. Then, we'll begin today, you guys don't mind." She told them. The three just nodded as they glanced at one another before they began.

* * *

For quite a few days, Sakura worked Yugao and Team Gai with her skills. It was pretty much the same every day. Early morning, Yugao would rudely wake her up by pressing a blade against her neck and warned her to keep up her guard up. It was only a matter of time did Sakura start taking her very serious and would sometimes actually set an alarm clock before Yugao showed up in her dark apartment. It was rather amusing one morning with Sakura rearranged her pillows and blankets to make it look like she was still asleep when she was actually hiding in her wardrobe when Yugao came to wake her for the day.

Of course, the very minute Yugao showed up in the room and started moving towards Sakura's bed with her katana, only to halt and just stand there. Then with an annoyed sound, she flung a kunai at Sakura's wardrobe. "Come out of there. Do you really think me a fool?" The annoyed ANBU said. Sakura, not amused, came out of her wardrobe and began to scold Yugao for throwing a kunai at her furniture.

Then after that, they would go to the Forest of Death and start training. Sakura and Yugao would run through the forest and fight some giant animals. They also worked on the pick pocketing techniques, so that Sakura would become better at it. They did that all morning until around noon, when they arranged to train with Team Gai.

The training was getting pretty hard, Sakura had to admit. But she was getting better. Taijutsu lessons with Lee wasn't that bad. She was actually rather surprised when he was very patient with teaching her. In all of the times she had seen him fight, he was always moving so fast and using a lot of power behind each hit he put into his fists and feet. She had never thought he had time to be slow and patient. But while teaching her, he took things slow and showed a lot of patience with her. He didn't even try and flirt with her while teaching her Taijutsu. He took Taijutsu rather seriously and it surprised Sakura a little by his change of character when he was teaching her. Neji was not as patient as Lee was with Sakura but he never took the time to snap at her or make her feel like she was doing something seriously wrong. He pretty much made Sakura do things blindfolded, making her listen hard to the sounds around her. He did what he could to make sure that she got it right. Numerous times, he corrected her stances, which was mostly the Hyuga stance. Now and then Sakura could feel a wave of annoyance coming off of the Hyuga genius but he never acted out on his moods.

As for Tenten, she was not very patient at all. She took the entire accuracy lessons very seriously and would get mad if Sakura missed her target's direct point even by an inch. She was actually kind of scary to work with.

As for the pick pocketing lessons with Yugao, Sakura finally managed to get it right after one week. She was able to successfully pick pocket a wallet without even getting the suspicion from the victim. She had done at least ten wallets in a row before getting caught by someone else. So Yugao finally decided to let Sakura test out her skills against her own teammates, and maybe even get Sai to teach her.

It was nearly in the middle of the month when Sakura went back to training with Team Seven. Sakura was a little excited about doing it. She really wanted to find out if her training with Yugao and Team Gai was paying off. This was a test to see if she was truly getting stronger. So while Sakura headed over to the usual training grounds, she was very aware that Yugao was creeping around in the bushes, moving very quietly to watch how well she did. This made Sakura smile to herself before looked directly at the training grounds again where Team Seven was to meet.

Yamato and Sai were the first ones there, of course and Naruto was late. This made Sakura frown and roll her eyes. Her blonde friend was getting more and more like Kakashi, now that she thought about it. They were both always late. It was starting to get ridiculous. It wasn't long before Naruto showed up, grinning at her and waving like an idiot he was. Now they just had to wait for the 'All Might King of Being late and coming up with Lame Exuses.'

However, Kakashi was not as late as she thought he would be. He was only five minutes late this time, and still Sakura was surprised. He was usually two hours late. But today seemed to be some kind of special or something. He just smiled at everyone before they started stretching for the training session.

"Sakura." Kakashi said, his hand on her shoulder. "I need to talk to you for a moment."

Sakura looked up at him from stretching before nodding and following the silver-white haired Jounin off to the side, well away from prying ears. She wondered what Kakashi wanted to talk to her about. Maybe it was the fact that she was trying to become an ANBU. "Kakashi-sensei, is something……" She was saying.

Kakashi turned around and looked her right in the eye with his revealed one and gave her a soft look. "Sakura, you don't need to call me sensei anymore, seeing that we're the same rank now." He then shrugged as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Actually, I pulled you over here to talk about that real quick. I'm aware that you're trying to become ANBU too." He said in a low voice. "Sakura, are you sure you want to do that?"

"Um….well….I guess so. I thought that you knew….." Sakura was saying again.

The older Jounin just waved a hand as if brushing it off. "Yeah, I know that you're becoming one because Tsunade asked you to, and because it's for a mission. But," He looked very serious. "Sakura, I have to warn you though. Being an ANBU is extremely dangerous. I would know because I was one once. It's not an easy job at all." He told her.

Sakura only bit her lip as she looked away before shrugging. "Kakashi, I think I'll be fine. I've had you to teach me and…..quite a few others. I think I can do it." She told him. Kakashi tilted his head to the side while studying her but then nodded. "All right. I just want you to be very careful, Sakura." He even sounded concerned for her. "The career of being ANBU is no pleasure cruise, I'll tell you that. I just hope you will have a enough strong will for it." He quickly held up a hand when Sakura opened her mouth to say something, looking somewhat offended. "Sakura, the ANBU are the Assassin Ops. There will be some targets that you might have to eliminate that will hurt you more than you hurt them. It's not going to be pleasant at all." He paused again. "I'm also aware of your friend hiding in the bushes. I've already spoken to Wolf about what you've been training to do. So, don't even think about touching my Icha Icha book." He warned her with amusement.

"Awww. Kakashi-sens…..I mean, Kakashi-san." Sakura pouted as she folded her arms and stuck out her lip. "I just wanted to try it out." She whined.

Kakashi made the sound as if he was laughing at her but shook his head. "It won't work with me, Sakura. I'm just a little too good for a little picket pocketing." He told her before holding out a hand. Sakura made a face before she reached into her hip pouch and pulled out the Icha Icha book she had tried to steal from Kakashi when he had even first arrived at the training grounds. So with only a pout, she slapped the book into his hand, which immediately put back into his own pouch. "You almost got away with it. Good job." Kakashi said, rather fondly. This just made Sakura grin up at him. So she was getting better.

The training that Team Seven was going to be doing was just a basic survival test. The three younger ninja were to try and take down the two older Jounin. They were to split up and try to do it on their own though. So once the training began, everyone quickly split up. Sakura, however, stayed a little close to Sai though. She wanted to get close enough to him to try and pick pocket something off of him. She was also trying to decide what to take from him.

His sketch book maybe?

Then again, that was a little too big and she hardly doubted he would keep it in his pouch. She could probably go for his Brother book. That was his most prized possession, after all.

Thinking it was worth a shot, she moved closer to where Sai was crouching and bent down beside him. He only merely glanced over at her before turning to look through the bushes at Kakashi as he leaned against a tree, his back to them. Neither young ninja said a word to each other as they just crouched there for a moment.

Sakura gave Sai a side wards glance before looking down at his pouch. She had to be quick about this. She knew that Sai would catch on quick if she wasn't. So she slowly crept her hand towards him, while his attention was directly on Kakashi. She watched him closely before stopping. She realized something about the way he was looking straight forward. Something that didn't really seem right. "Sai?" She asked, in a very quiet voice.

"Hn?" The ninja in black grunted.

Sakura frowned before tilting her head to the side to get a better look at him, his eyes never even moved from Kakashi. She then frowned as her face fell. "Why won't you teach me how to be emotionless?" She asked, dryly. Sai's head jerked around and he looked at her with surprise. It was like he hadn't even been expecting her to ask that at all. And that look on his face just made Sakura growl at him before she swung a fist and hit him over the head. "Naruto! What the heck are you doing?!"

"Ow!" Sai yelped before he burst into smoke and Naruto reappeared in his stead, rubbing his head. "Sakura! Why do you have to hit so hard?" He pouted.

Sakura just glared at him but shook her head. She wasn't in the mood for Naruto right now. "Naruto! Where's Sai?" She asked, dryly. The blonde just pouted at him as he continued to rub his head. "I don't know. He asked me to imitate him. He just said that it was going to help us get a hold of Kakashi." He said, wincing and rubbing his head. Sakura sweat dropped before she sighed and shook her head. She knew that Sai was probably evading her because of her request. She seriously was tempted of hitting him. With a frustrated groan, she stood up and made to leave her blonde friend there but had to stop because Naruto grabbed her wrist, holding her back. "Sakura! Wait!" He said.

"What is it, Naruto?" Sakura asked impatiently.

Naruto tilted his head to the side, almost looking like an innocent and curious puppy. It was kind of cute but she wasn't in the mood at all. "Sakura, why are you trying to get Sai to teach you how to be emotionless? Why would you want to be emotionless?" He asked, sounding a little worried.

Sakura sighed as she bent down beside him, giving him a very impatient look. "Naruto, what I want is my business. I'm just getting tired of being emotional, all right? Now, let's just get to Kakashi already." She told him. She stood up and hurried away before he could say anything else. She was furious. She swore that if she found Sai, she was going to beat the living crap out of him. She knew he was avoiding her. He was probably aware that she was going to ask him about emotionless lessons again. He might have an emotionless idiot, but he wasn't stupid.

"Wolf." Sakura whispered as she leaned against a tree, looking carefully around the training area for Sai.

In that very moment, her ANBU partner stepped right out from behind the three next to hers, though she stayed in the shadows where it was hard to see her. Even Sakura was having a hard time to see her but she didn't really care right now. She just kept her eyes looking around the training area, keeping an eye out for anyone. She didn't want to get caught talking with Yugao.

"You need something?" The dark haired ANBU asked as she leaned against her own tree.

Sakura only nodded as she tilted her head to the side, still looking around. "Do you know where Sai's hiding? I swear, he's so hard to find." She said, with a little groan.

Yugao smirked herself before shaking her head. She was somewhat amused, though normally she knew she wouldn't be. She would have been annoyed but she was starting to like Sakura. "Usually a true ANBU can find anyone." She held up a hand when Sakura rolled her eyes and looked at her with annoyance. "But then again, this is Sai we're dealing with. And he's from Root, so he's trained to be able to hide himself completely. So he is really hard to find." She shrugged and motioned off into the trees. "He's over by the river. Might I suggest something?"

"Sure. I could use some ideas right about now." Sakura said looking around again.

Yugao nodded as she smirked at her and folded her arms, shifting her weight. "There's some traps that Sai set up over by the river. I'll point them out for you so you'll know where they're at. But my suggestion is, fall for one of them." She smirked even more when Sakura gave her a wide eyed look and started to protest. "Hold on. Let me finish." She waited till Sakura closed her mouth again before finishing. "Now, fall for one of the traps and fall into the river, as if you're going to drown. I'll come help you out and that way I can get involved with your guys' training session. Then things will really get interesting." She told her.

Sakura sighed but she nodded. "All right. I hope this will work, Yugao." She told her before she followed the ANBU off into the trees.

The two partners rushed through the trees, trying to remain concealed before they quickly found the river. Sakura looked around carefully to see if she could spot Sai. But he was well hidden. She was sure he was there because Yugao was crouching very low to the ground, looking around with a serious look in her eyes. So she crouched down too. "Is he here?"

Yugao nodded as she looked around warily. She didn't say anything for a long time before she pointed. "I believe he's over there in the far bushes. He's watching carefully for Kakashi and Yamato. He might have spotted you though. Your hair isn't exactly the same color of the forest." She said, smirking when Sakura scowled at her.

After a moment of looking around the clearing around the river, Yugao then began pointing out to certain areas of the clearing. "Looks like he's put a few Jutsu traps all over the place. But see that small rock about fifty kilometers away from us?" She saw Sakura nod from beside her. "There's a more harmless trap there. It looks like a catapult trap. So it should just knock you right into the river if you step on it. Once you're in the river, go to the bottom and count to twenty….." She paused looking at her with a frown. "How long can you hold your breath again?"

"For about a minute in a half at least. Maybe two minutes." Sakura answered.

Yugao nodded as she took it into thought. She seemed a little satisfied with that answer. "That sounds just about right. Count to thirty then. Once you get to thirty, come back up and I'll help you out of the water. Right about then, everyone should have noticed your minor accident." She told her.

Sakura just nodded before she pushed herself through the bushes, running across the area. She was trying to make herself look a little out of breath while looking frantically around to play the part. She also tried to make herself look very alert, as if she wasn't going to let anything or anyone catch her off guard. However, as she ran across the terrain and stepped on the trap where Yugao told her to step, she felt the hair raise on her neck. It was something that happened when someone was coming up behind her. She jumped a little and jerked around, only to see Sai right there, running towards her.

"Ugly! Don't step there!" He said sharply.

A little too late.

The trap was set off just as Sai reached Sakura and she felt the ground rise very quickly from beneath her. She gasped as she found herself now flying through the air. She also could feel Sai's hand wrapped around her wrist and when she looked, she saw that he was going in right with her. 'Oh, crap. This wasn't apart of the plan.' She thought before.

"Nice going, ug…..!" Sai was saying before they both were plunged right into cold water.

Sakura had barely had time to gulp down as much air as she could before she found herself sinking to the bottom with Sai holding onto her wrist. She was cursing rapidly as she felt her back touch the river bottom before she started to push herself to the surface. She had had her air knocked from her lungs from the impact with the river. So the plan had changed.

However, as she tried to rise back to the surface, she felt her body jerk to a sudden stop from rising any further. She also felt her hip pouch catch something. She frowned as she tried to move again but she was stuck. 'Oh crap!' she gasped as she tried to tug herself free but her bag wouldn't move.

If that wasn't the worst scenario, she could feel water started to seep into her mouth and nose. 'Double crap! I'm going to drown!' She gasped inwardly.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Secrets in Ink

Author: greenphoenix85

Short Summary: Sakura discovers the deepest, darkest secrets of the elder, Danzo, that he has kept from Konoha and it's a secret that can either begin the biggest war in Shinobi history or stop it before it begins.

Pairings: Sakura/Sai, Naruto/Hinata, Sasuke/Karin,

Warning: Rated T, but might go up; for very strong language, violence, and brief sexuality.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of its characters.

* * *

**Chapter 3:**

In her moment of panic, Sakura kept tugging at her hip pouch, trying to get free from the river bottom. It was in that moment, she felt something tugging on her wrist, making her quickly look up to see that Sai was still there with her. He was pulling himself downward to her and the river bottom. He blankly glanced at Sakura, who was staring wide-eyed up at him before moving closer to where her bag was trapped. Sakura would have watched him as he tried to tug her bag free, if not for the water not starting to fill her lungs. It couldn't be helped after that. She started to panic. She felt herself starting to thrash, trying to pull lose.

'Crapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrapcrap!!!!!!!!!' She thought rapidly as she tried harder to get away from the rock she was stuck on.

That is until she felt hands grab her face and she felt something press against her mouth.

Sakura's eyes snapped wide open and she found herself looking at Sai, whose mouth was pressing against hers, breathing air into her. She felt herself grow very stiff as she stared at him with saucer wide eyes then watched as he pulled away and returned to tugging her bag free.

**'Holy Kami!!'** Inner Sakura was screaming inside her head. **'Sai just kissed us!!!'**

Sakura was still paralyzed with shock from what Sai had just done but her thoughts were snapped right out very quickly as she felt herself being pulled upward. She blinked in the water before she realized that Sai was pulling her upward. She had been freed. The pink haired girl just ignored her as she kicked her feet hard before breaking the surface. She gasped and choked on air. She almost went down again if someone hadn't grabbed a hold of her vest and held her up. She blinked water out of her eyes before looking up to see Yugao standing at the edge of the water. She was the one who had grabbed her vest but she wasn't the only one who was holding onto Sakura. Sai was still right next to her, an arm around her waist, keeping her up. And boy, did he look surprised to see the violate haired ANBU. So much for being completely emotionless, thought Sakura smugly before she remembered she had water in her lungs. She gasped and choked on water again when she almost went down.

Soon enough, she was pulled up onto dry land, spitting out water. She only glanced up when she heard Naruto shouting from somewhere close by. She saw him racing towards her with Kakashi and Yamato both jogging towards them, both of them glancing over at Yugao, who had a hint of a smirk on her face as she stayed crouched down beside Sakura.

"Sakura! Are you all right?!" Naruto gasped as he quickly dropped down beside Sakura's other side.

Sakura made a face as she thought about what just happened. She couldn't believe her luck at all. She had purposely fallen for one of Sai's traps, just to get his attention. It had gotten his attention all right. But it also sent them both flying into the river, where she had gotten caught on one of the river bottom rocks. And once again, she had needed to be rescued. Her career of being a fake ANBU wasn't starting out very well. "I'm fine." She grumbled.

Kakashi chuckled as he stuffed his hands into his pockets before glancing over at Sai, who was looking through his pack, checking everything. Just judging the discontent look on his face, his things were wet. So he wasn't exactly happy, if he even felt the emotion. "Well done, Sai, on helping Sakura out when she needed it." He then turned his eye onto Yugao who helped Sakura standing up. "Well, Yugao. What are you doing all the way out here?" He asked, sounding very amused.

It was then Naruto noticed the strange woman for the first time. "Hey! Where did you come from?!" He exclaimed pointing at her.

Yugao snorted as she glanced at the blonde standing next to an annoyed Sakura, after all he had yelled into her ear. She just folded her arms and shifted her weight. "Kind of slow, isn't he?" She asked, glancing back at Kakashi.

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed in anger. But he then yelped when Sakura clubbed him over the head with her fist to make him stop yelling into her ear.

However, even Sai looked somewhat annoyed, in his own way as he looked at Yugao. He was shaking out his painting scroll, trying to get it to dry quicker. "I'm curious to know what you're doing out here as well." He remarked dryly. Both Naruto and Sakura looked at him surprise. Neither one didn't exactly know that Sai knew the violate haired woman, though Sakura had seen hints of it through Yugao. Yugao just smiled at him before folding her arms over her curvy chest. "I was taking a run around the village and I saw you guys training so I decided to watch for a while." She turned to Kakashi and Yamato. "Well, Kakashi-senpai. It's been a while, hasn't it?" She asked then winking at Yamato as if being flirty with him. "Hey, Tenzou."

That even surprised Sakura when she heard that. She had been aware that Yugao knew of Kakashi and Yamato, whose real name was Tenzou. But to actually know them? Yugao hadn't said a thing to her about knowing her two teachers. Kakashi just nodded to the violate haired woman, tilting his head to the side. "Yes, it has been a while, hasn't it?" He said, thoughtfully.

Yamato, however, just dipped his head, looking somewhat embarrassed by Yugao's flirty ways. "Yugao, I'm not going by Tenzou anymore. It's Yamato." He told her. Yugao only smiled at him. She seemed to find pleasure in his embarrassment.

"Hey! Wait a second!" Naruto bellowed out still pointing at Yugao. "Who are you and how do you know Kakashi-sensei?!"

"Naruto! Stop yelling in my ear!" Sakura yelled right back at him before punching him in the head. Yugao just laughed as she watched the blonde fall to the ground while groaning in pain. She seemed to find this very amusing in deed. But with a shrug, she folded her arms. "My name's Yugao Uzuki and Kakashi was once my captain on my ANBU squad." She blurted out. Naruto and Sakura looked surprised to hear that, but Kakashi only shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal at all. He just stuffed his hands into his pockets as he looked at Yugao with interest. "So, Yugao, since you're out here, why don't you join us for our little exercise. It would even out the teams." He said, knowingly.

Yugao smirked as she looked everyone over before nodding. She even locked eyes with Sakura who blinked in surprise before her face drifted into a look of knowing. The pinkette realized that this had been her ANBU partner's plan the entire time. And Kakashi just helped them out. "All right. I'll join you guys. What are we doing?" She asked, folding her arms and shifting her weight.

"Hmmm. A survival exercise. But since we've evened the numbers, we'll form three teams. Naruto, you're with me." Kakashi said, looking at the blonde, who just grinned. "Sai and Yamato, you can be together. And why don't we just put the ladies together. Does that sound good?"

Everyone glanced at one another before they all nodded. Naruto looked a little hesitant though about Sakura being with a complete stranger that he didn't know. He wasn't even aware that Sakura and Yugao knew each other as it was. "Uh…..but….Sakura, you gonna be okay with this lady?" He asked glancing at the violate haired woman. Both Sakura and Yugao glanced at one another before smirking as they turned their eyes back onto the blonde. "Yeah, Naruto. I think I'll be fine." The pink haired kunoichi said as she shifted her weight.

Kakashi nodded before he stepped back. "And to make things a little interesting, and a little fun, how about we do a little game of Catch the Thief. Each team will have some sort of flag that the other teams have to try and steal from each other. If one team manages that by the end of the day, they win this little exercise." He told them. Everyone nodded as they took the information in. They figured it would work out. So the six ninja got together with their partners and got started. Kakashi and Naruto's flag was going to be one of Kakashi's bells, though Naruto had said that it should be his Icha Icha Book. Of course, the Copy Ninja immediately refused that one. Sai and Yamato had decided that their 'flag' would be a wood bird that Yamato created. It would have a black head so that they would know which one it would be. As for Sakura and Yugao, they decided that their 'flag' was going to be one of Yugao's katana.

Yugao glanced side wards at Sakura as soon as they were read, both looking a little smug. "I think this is going to be very interesting. Don't you think, Sakura?" The ANBU asked. Sakura just smiled and nodded before she looked over at Sai, who was watching them very carefully. He was definitely a little suspicious about why Yugao was there. But they wouldn't pay attention to him. Once everyone was ready, they all bolted in different directions with their partners.

Both Yugao and Sakura immediately took to the trees to hide their presence from the others. They needed to come up with a plan of how they were going to get the others' flags. They found a secluded area where Yugao quickly put up chakra traps while they stayed in the bushes. They sat there for a moment, listening to the racket going on far off in the distance. By the sounds of it, Kakashi and Naruto were fighting Sai and Yamato.

"I definitely owe Kakashi-taichou for this one." Yugao said as she glanced over her shoulder into the bushes.

Sakura blinked in surprise before tilting her head to the side as she looked her partner over with interest. "So you do know Kakashi." She said, with a minor question to it. Yugao turned her eyes back onto her before smiling and nodding to her. "Yeah. I really was on the same squad as Kakashi a long time ago. Me and a few others." She told her. "Okay, let's come up with a plan. You still need to steal something from Sai, right? Well, we'll definitely need to distract him. Here's what we'll do." And she began to tell the pinkette a plan.

Once they had the plan down, both crept through the bushes to locate the others. They were trying to locate the others, mostly Sai and Yamato. They had already agreed that Sakura would take on Sai while Yugao was taking Yamato. And during the fight, they might switch just so that if Sai did notice that something was missing, he wouldn't know which one took whatever it was they pick pocketed from him. It took a while to find them. Almost ten minutes had passed before Sai and Yamato spotted Sakura and Yugao walk right out of the bushes and they jumped them. The ground began to rumble as the wood manipulator brought tree roots right out of the ground. Immediately, Sakura and Yugao separated, one going for Yamato and the other going for Sai.

Sakura quickly dodged the ink beasts that Sai and quickly painted after her. She did several back flips before turning to face him, a sly smile on her face as she met his dark eyes. He didn't even smile as he quickly moved towards her, ready to fight her. He swung his leg at her to kick her but she quickly moved under his leg, ducking around him. She had to flip backwards when he tried to do a back kick at her. She then charged after him, swinging a fist at him. He blocked it just fine, before trying to flip her right over himself.

"Whoa!" Sakura yelped as she found herself flat on her back and grew stiff when Sai sat on her belly, pinning her down.

Sai just looked blankly down at her as he trapped her wrists down to the ground, his dark eyes meeting hers. There was a minor pause before Sakura smirked up at him before quickly flipping him right over her head, onto his back and then she was pinning him down. "So, Sai, got a question for you. Why won't you teach me how to be emotionless?" She asked as she sat down on his stomach. She had to quickly move when one of Sai's ink beasts tried to jump on her. She was quickly on her feet, standing ready to continue their fight.

The black clad ninja just stood up as quick as she had before he frowned at her. "……"

"Not going to answer my question?" Sakura asked, smiling at him as she raised an eyebrow at him.

Sai just frowned at her as he started to move at her, throwing fists and kicks at her. She dodged his moves, moving further away as far as she needed to while he tried to attack her. "Talking during a fight will get you no where." He told her dryly as he ducked under her fist and swung around to behind her. "Besides, I already told you why."

Sakura spun around and gave him a very dry look while standing in her stance. "Oh, that's right. That blank look that you wear wouldn't suit mine. Well, for your information, Sai, I'll have whatever blank look on my face that I want. If I want to look like you, I will. I just need your help controlling my emotions so that I'm not weak anymore." She told him. Sai gave her a fake smile but shook his head as he crouched down and was painting rapidly against the summon scroll he possessed. He quickly slammed his hands down on the paintings as they started to rise up. To Sakura's surprise, they were ink figures of her, with a blank look on his face. Now she could see what Sai meant. The blank look really didn't suit her. But then again, that was only paintings. But still, it was apart of her mission. She needed to figure out how to hide her emotions. "Sai, that's not going to change my mind." She said dryly.

"Well, you're not going to change my mind either." Sai said blankly as he formed another hand sign. Without a word at all, he nodded towards Sakura, whereas the Sakura Ink Clones charged at her, swinging their fists at her.

Sakura frowned as she quickly dodged them, her eyes still on Sai as he watched her fighting his clones. She could almost see a smug look in his dark eyes though. It was like he was expecting her to mess something up and get knocked onto her ass. But with a smirk of her own, she called her Chakra to her fist before swinging it down hard and slammed it on the ground. The ground erupted with fissures and splattered the Ink Clones. The minor earthquake also threw Sai off balance and he fell onto his back.

At that very moment, Yugao came back flipping between them, giving Sakura a smile as she dodged Yamato's wooden spears flying at her. "Trade ya!" She called to her.

Sakura just smiled before she rushed at Yamato next, knowing that Sai was probably watching her. She could certainly feel his eyes on her as she charged at her other teacher, who just sent roots at her, trying to bind her. Either way, Mission accomplished.

By the end of the day, when the training session was finally finished, Naruto was lying sprawled on the ground, panting hard. Sakura was sitting next to him, elbows on her knees and trying to catch her breath. She was happy with the results of the training session. She not only had a chance to fight Sai, and kick his butt in her own way, but she knew for a fact that she was getting better at her Taijutsu. She had even pulled a few of Rock Lee's moves on Naruto, which nearly stunned him silly. Kakashi, Yamato and Yugao were the only ones standing up, not completely out of breath but they did look a little worn down.

"Now, that's what I call a training exercise!" Yugao said brightly as she bent over with her hands on her knees. She smirked as she straightened and looked up at Kakashi. "I see you haven't changed too much, Kakashi-senpai. You run your students hard just as if you were running your old ANBU squad."

Kakashi just gave her a smile under his mask and rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey. The Ninja world is not a kind place, Yugao. Sometimes you have to be harsh." He turned his dark eye back onto his three young teammates though. "But, you all have done very well today. Naruto, not only did you manage to do the Rasengan three times, you knocked Yamato off his feet. Something that doesn't happen very much. He's like a sturdy tree, you see. Sai, not bad on some of your Ink Clones. And you're still as swift as ever." He then looked fondly at Sakura, who grinned up at him. "Sakura, you've improved greatly since the Mission in the Land of Wind. You have gotten stronger, faster and smarter. I'm glad you've been getting a little help from Lee, seeing that you know some of his moves. It's obvious that you've been training with him."

"Him, Neji and Tenten, actually." Sakura admitted as she rubbed the back of her neck.

Naruto sat up sharply before giving her a wide eyed look as if she had just done something very stupid. "You've been training with bushy brows, Neji and Tenten?!" he gasped. Sakura gave him a dull look but nodded. "Yeah? So what? I asked them to help me with my Taijutsu, Naruto. Why does that bother you? They're your friends too." She said impatiently.

Kakashi then shrugged as he turned slightly away and looked up at the darkening sky. "Well, it's getting late. And we'll probably have a mission tomorrow. So let's call it a day." He told everyone and was suddenly gone in a poof of smoke.

Yamato just shook his head before looking over at the others with a faint smile. Then he walked away. Naruto was still pouting a little that Sakura hadn't told him about her training with Lee, Neji and Tenten. If she would have told him about it, he would have trained with them. It never occurred to him that she had wanted to train with them, alone. "Hey! Sakura-chan!" He suddenly brightened up. "Let's go get some ramen together! What do you say?!" He asked, brightly.

Sakura walked beside Yugao, looking away thoughtfully. She had barely registered Naruto's words but when she did, she shook her head. "Sorry, Naruto. I've got a very early morning and I would rather get some sleep." She told him, almost laughing when her blonde friend pouted. She was suddenly struck with an idea that might perk his mood up again. "Actually, Naruto. Why don't you go ask Hinata if she wants to have some ramen with you? I'm sure she would love to hang out with you."

Naruto's eyes brightened at the idea before he started grinning. "Okay! Great idea! Thanks, Sakura-chan!" He said before bolting away from them.

Both Sakura and Yugao were snickering as they watched the blonde run off and out of sight in seconds. The pink haired girl knew very well that her blonde friend was starting to like the Hyuga Heiress. Ever since they had had a talk about their relationship and put it right down that there would be nothing more between them but friendship. Sakura had made sure that Naruto realized that she couldn't love him in a intimate way. She explained to him it wasn't because of Sasuke, or anything. It was just how she felt. She admitted it to him that he had grown very nicely over the three years since he was gone away from Konoha, but she just saw him more a brother than anything else. Naruto hadn't been as upset as she thought he would have been. Instead, he agreed with her and stated that he saw her as a sister too. Then he turned his eyes onto Hinata Hyuga, revealing he really started to like her.

However, Sakura's thoughts about her blonde friend was interrupted when Sai suddenly turned towards Yugao, giving her a very blank look, though not looking happy either. Instead, he held out his hand towards the ANBU, who was smirking as if she knew what he wanted. "Yugao, give it back." He muttered. Sakura blinked in surprise but Yugao smirked as she folded her arms and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Give what back, Sai? I don't know what you're talking about." She told him.

"My summoning scroll. I would appreciate it if you gave it back to me." Sai said dryly.

Only then did Sakura start smiling as she realized what he was talking about. She just tilted her head to the side and watched her ANBU partner deal with her emotionless teammate. She already knew that her problem was going to be dealt with soon enough.

"What makes you so sure that I have anything that belongs to you, Sai?" Yugao asked smirking. "Much less an Ink Summoning scroll that you use to bring your Ink creations alive."

Sai gave her a very cool stare but shook his head as he lift his head a little higher. He knew very well that Yugao had taken his scroll from him. He wasn't stupid. Maybe a little dense when it came to emotions but he wasn't stupid when someone stole something from him and then tried to hide it from the others. "Yugao." He said warningly.

Yugao just gave him a wolfish grin before she dropped her hands at her sides. Now it was time for the negotiations. "All right, all right. I'll give you back your scroll. But under one condition." She told him. And she ignored him when a low growl rose from his chest. "It's the condition or nothing, Sai. You know I can be a real bitch. So don't test me." She even added a little testy tone to her remark.

Sai's eyes narrowed at her but then he let out a low breath and dipped his head into a nod. "Fine. What is it?" He asked, quietly.

Yugao grinned at him before tilting her head towards Sakura, who grinned right back at her. They had this nicked in the bag. So their plan to convincing Sai to train Sakura was working. But there was always a chance that it would backfire. Still, it was worth a try. So the wolf-like ANBU tossed her head towards Sakura. "To get your scroll back, you have to teach my girl, Sakura here, how to hide her emotions just like you." She told him.

It went very quiet as Sai's head lift a little higher and his eyebrows knitted together in thought. He stared at her for a very long time before his face grew very blank and he looked over at Sakura, frowning. "I see. So you're behind this. You recruited Yugao Uzuki, an ANBU into trying to trap me into doing as you requested." He said sound a little grave.

Sakura shook her head as she folded her arms. "Sai, you didn't give me much of a choice. I want to learn how to suppress my emotions. It's something that I want." She told him.

Sai turned his head away from her before he shook his head. He was quiet for a very long time, seeming to be thinking about how he was going to explain something to Sakura. But then he turned his blank look onto her. "I can't teach you how to be like me, Sakura." He held up a hand when she opened her mouth to start complaining. "But I can put a seal on you that will allow you to hide your emotions."

That just made both Sakura and Yugao frown as they glanced at one another. They were somewhat confused about what he was talking about. A seal? How many ways did Sai know how to hide his emotions? Sakura tilted head to the side. "Is it the way you were taught?" She frowned when he shook his head. "Well, why don't you just teach me the way that you were……"

"No." Sai immediately interrupted with a very serious look in his eyes. The look in his dark eyes scared the pinkette a little. "I will not do that. Do not even think about trying to convince me to teach you that way. The simpler and safer way will be the emotion seal." He told her, sternly.

Now Sakura's curiosity was perked. She wanted to know what exactly happened to Sai to make him that way. Was there a special exercise he had had gone through to make him so emotionless? Now she really wanted to know. "Sai? How were you taught to be emotionless?" She asked, now a little uneasy. Especially with the way he was looking at her now. She didn't like that look in his eyes at all.

But instead of replying to her question, Sai turned slightly away, reaching into his pack and pulled out his ink and brush. "Turn around and pull back your hair." He told her quietly. Sakura frowned at him for ignoring her question but she figured that it was better not to ask. She would have to try and find out in her own way. So she would leave alone for a while. With a shrug, she turned her back to him and pulled her short pink hair right out of the way.

"Exactly what are you doing, Sai?" Yugao asked as she carefully observed the ninja in black.

Sai merely glanced at her but then shook his head as he pulled open the ink tube. Dipping the brush into the ink a few times, he looked back at Sakura's neck before raising the brush. "The emotion seal I am about to place on you will allow you to lock away your emotions to the back of your mind. It repress your emotions until you can adjust yourself to doing it by yourself. That is one way I learned how to lock away my emotions." He explained quietly.

Yugao and Sakura both frowned as they listened to him. Neither one had ever heard of an emotion seal. So they didn't know exactly what it was. "An emotion seal? I've never heard of it. How did you learn about this emotion seal?" The ANBU asked.

Sai just shook his head as he rose the brush towards Sakura's neck and then began painting a marking on her skin. The cold liquid had made her jump a little but she relaxed very quickly so that he could do it without messing it up. "Danzo-sama taught me it. It was how I was first taught to suppress my emotions." He then went quiet for a moment as he painted something. It was obvious he didn't want to tell them the whole truth. "With this seal, you will be able to hide your emotions. Permanently if you wish it." He told the pinkette.

Sakura felt a wave of worry roll over her. She wasn't really intending to be emotionless forever. "Sai, is it permanent?" She asked, only a little uneasy.

Sai slowly shook his head as painted a very unusual seal onto her neck before pulling the brush away. He blew on it a few times so that the ink would dry faster before putting his paint brush away. "It can be, if you keep it activated all of the time. The seal can be activated and deactivated whenever you want. But I wouldn't deactivate after a long period of time if I were you. It has an after effect. The seal catches the emotions you feel inside, keeping you from expressing them outside. It bottles them up." He told them quietly.

"So that means….." Yugao asked, frowning.

Sai just nodded as he reached up and touched the ink to make sure it was dry before putting his ink and brush away. "It means if you get angry or sad while having the seal activated, it will only flood inside of you, creating an emotional flood. When you release the seal, it will…." He paused, trying to come up with the right way of putting it.

Sakura, however, understood as she took in the information. She knew where Sai was trying to get at. "It will totally build up, right? A total emotional break down." She asked, softly.

"Yes." Sai answered then he placed his hands on the back of her neck. "Empathy Suppression Jutsu. Seal, activate." He said quietly.

Sakura winced when she felt a dull sting in her neck, as if she felt a bee sting her. She wanted to cry out from pain but for some reason, she couldn't. She could only frown as reached up and rubbed the back of her neck where it stung while turning around to glare at Sai. But to her surprise, she couldn't feel herself to doing it. She felt so…..blank. This actually scared her a little, though she didn't feel it. She felt nothing at all. Her face felt as if it was stuck in a blank look too. So she turned around and frowned blankly at Sai, who watched her just as blankly. "Is it on?" She asked, only a little startled that she sounded so blank.

Sai, however, nodded his head as he tucked his brush and paint away, making sure that it wouldn't make a mess. "Yes. To activate it, you must say, 'Seal Activate.' To deactivate it, the opposite. 'Seal Deactivate.' These are the words to turning on and off the seal." He explained to her.

Sakura slowly nodded as she took in the information. It was pretty simple to understand. "What about hand signs? Are there hand signs I have to know about?" She asked blankly.

Again Sai nodded. "To activate the seal, you must do the hand seals Rat, Snake and Dragon. To deactivate the seal, Tiger, Ram, then Ox." He told her.

Sakura could only node before she looked at Yugao. She noted the weirded out look on the ANBU's face as she looked right at her face. Her partner actually looked as if she didn't like something. "What?" She asked emotionlessly. Yugao grimaced as she looked directly at Sakura's face before shaking her head and unfolding her arms. "You know? I think Sai was right about you, Sakura. That blank look on your face doesn't really suit you at all. You look so…..so dead." She told her. Sakura would have laughed if not for the seal. She was pretty sure that Yugao didn't mean that she looked dead with the blank look on her face. But then she thought of something very interesting. If this seal could suppress emotions and keep a face from showing anything at all, did that mean Sai was under it right at that second? So she looked at him, blankly. "Sai, are you under this seal now? Is that why you never express your emotions around me and Naruto?" She asked, meeting him right in the eye.

Sai looked her right in the eye but then shook his head. "No. I have not been able to express emotions or feelings for many years now. Not since I was very young. Danzo started my emotionless training by placing the seal on me, but for some reason it did not work for too long. I do not need the seal to lock away my emotions. Eventually as you readjust to an emotionless state, the seal will fade as you completely lock away your emotions. But that is if you keep it on constantly." He told her.

Sakura just nodded before grimacing within. She knew she couldn't do it on the outside but her Inner sure could. She could see Inner Sakura grimacing at the thought that they would be emotionless like that. It bothered them both. Sakura felt like a mindless drone. Now she knew how Sai felt. So forming the hand seals; Tiger, Ram, and then Ox, she deactivated the seal while saying, "Seal Deactivate," just to make sure that it worked. The very moment the seal deactivated, Sakura almost regretted it. She felt a flood of emotions roll right over her. She felt a brief felling of pain, then anger and then laughter at the same time and ended up crying out then laughing mirthlessly. The very sound made her eyes widen as she slapped a hand over her mouth and look at Sai with alarm. She looked very bewildered by what she just felt. "Oh, jeez! Is that the emotional over load you were talking about?"

Sai looked somewhat amused in his blank way. But he nodded nonetheless. "Yes. The more emotions you build up, the stronger they get. But they tend to fade if you just leave them alone while sealed." He then turned away from her and looked at Yugao, dryly. "Now, my scroll. I've done as you requested." He said, but then paused when Yugao rose an eyebrow at him. "What?" He asked, dryly.

"She wants you to say please, Sai." Sakura said smirking as she folded her arms and shifted her weight.

Sai rolled his dark eyes before giving Yugao an impatient look. "Fine then. Please." He told her.

Yugao nodded in satisfaction before smirking smugly. She had a look as if she knew something and that agitated Sai a little. It didn't help when she turned and smirked right at Sakura, who was smiling right back. The violate haired ANBU nodded to her as she stepped back. And the pinkette nodded back before she turned and dug into her hip pouch and pulled out a scroll. The look on Sai's face was priceless though when he saw that it had been Sakura who had it. Obviously, he had been expecting Yugao to have it. Still, his eyes lit up with surprise as he stared at her. 'So much for being completely emotionless then.' Sakura thought smugly before she held it out to him. "Thanks, Sai! Catch ya later!" She said in a flirty like way before she and Yugao were running off, laughing. Sai just stood there with the scroll in his hand, looking stunned.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Secrets in Ink

Author: greenphoenix85

Short Summary: Sakura discovers the deepest, darkest secrets of the elder, Danzo, that he has kept from Konoha and it's a secret that can either begin the biggest war in Shinobi history or stop it before it begins.

Pairings: Sakura/Sai, Naruto/Hinata, Sasuke/Karin.

Warning: Rated T, but might go up; for very strong language, violence, and adult themes.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of its characters.

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**Chapter 4:**

Sakura was so not looking forward to this at all. She knew it had been coming sooner or later, but she had hoped it would be later. Then again, her month was nearly up and it was time for her to get the one thing that she needed to make her an official ANBU.

The ANBU tattoo.

After the thing with Sai, Sakura had been trying out the new emotion seal. It really bothered her that she had to wear it most of the time. The whole emotionless thing was really starting to get to her. But she knew she needed to get used to it being on. She knew she needed to try and be as emotionless as she could, just so that she could fit in with the ANBU. She knew for a fact that it was starting to bother the others, because now and then she would have it on in front of Naruto and the others from her class. They had noticed right away and even tried to ask her about it. But she would just give them a blank stare and they immediately dropped it.

The training with Yugao was going just fine now. Working with her wasn't as hard as it used to be. Sakura even started getting used to getting up so early and would even sometimes meeting the violate haired ANBU on her roof top in the mornings. It made Yugao pout a little that she couldn't pick on her anymore in the early mornings while she was asleep. But other wise, she was really starting to like "Tiger." And now, it was the day that Yugao decided that Sakura needed to get the ANBU tattoo. She hadn't really told the pinkette about it until they arrived right in front of a building that Sakura had never seen before, nor had she even been in this part of the Village before. It was the rough part of Konoha Village. Not many people, more or less ninja came to this part.

Sakura didn't even seem to notice at all of where they were going because she had been thinking so hard about the upcoming mission. She knew she was getting better with her Taijutsu. Even Rock Lee admitted, and he wasn't really the kind who lied or told stories. He told the plain truth in his own flowery way. Tenten was in a better mood with her too because she was getting better with target practice. She was impressed of how well Sakura was doing now. The pinkette wasn't as good as her, or Rock Lee, of course. But she was getting there. Neji was a little proud that she was doing pretty good into following her senses so well. She was getting better to blocking attacks. Not as good as him, but good enough.

"Hey, Tiger." Yugao broke into her thoughts. "We're here."

Sakura blinked out of her thoughts and looked at Yugao for a moment before looking around. She frowned as she noted the neighborhood, looking at a few of the crummy looking shops. There was a pub not too far down the road. It wasn't the greatest part of the village at all. And before her and Yugao, there was a small shop with a large sign hanging from the front. It read; Body Art.

The pink haired kunoichi winced when she saw it. She hadn't been aware of where they were going that day. All she knew was that Yugao told her that they were doing something very special but she hadn't said what. "Oh no. No, no, no, no, no. You have got to be kidding me!" Sakura yelped.

Yugao smirked at her but shook her head as she folded her arms. "You knew that you had to get one sooner or later, Sakura. Better do it now than the day we get started on this mission. Because when that happens, you don't want to have that emotionless seal on and have an ache in your arm all day long while we're meeting with the old buzzard." She warned her before grabbing Sakura's arm and dragging her towards the tattoo shop. She had to laugh at the look on her partner's face as they entered the building.

There was no doubt in Sakura's mind, she was so not looking forward to this.

Yugao immediately spoke to one of the body artists in while Sakura was shivering in a chair and waiting for it to happen. She was nervous. She couldn't believe that Yugao had managed to talk her into doing this. She couldn't even believe that Tsunade was making her do this assignment. She didn't think she was ready. Not for getting a tattoo. She had heard from a few other people that tattoos hurt to get on. She remembered when Kiba mentioned that he got his markings on his face when he was just a very young pup, but he remembered how it had hurt. He had cried for days because his face ached a lot. It just made Sakura shudder. She had never wanted to get a tattoo.

Finally, Yugao smiled and turned around to face Sakura, almost laughing on how pale she had gotten within the five minutes they had been in the tattoo shop. She knew that the pink haired girl was extremely nervous. She didn't blame her. "Okay, Sakura. They're ready. Are you?" She asked as she stood over her younger partner.

Sakura shuddered and swallowed hard at the same time as she shakily got to her feet. She tried to manage a nod though, it looked more like her head was about to fall right off her shoulders. "Ye-yeah. I thi-think so." She murmured.

"Hey." The violate haired ANBU said as she reached over and placed a hand onto her shoulder. "Relax, Sakura. If you think it's going to hurt, it will. But I promise. It won't hurt. The least it would feel like is a bee sting." She tried to reassure her. But when Sakura didn't look reassured, she just rolled her eyes and gave her a dull look. "Look, Sakura. You are Tsunade's apprentice and you've been through a lot already. Don't let one little tattoo get to you. It's not going to kill you. You've been stabbed, crushed, poisoned and kami who knows what else. Getting a tattoo on your shoulder isn't going to hurt. Got that? Now, get in the chair and shut up. If you don't, you should remember that the old man might be plotting you-know-who's assassination and if you don't do this mission, she just might end up dead."

The pink haired girl was taken back by what Yugao said to her but with a frown, she figured she had a point. She had been through worst than getting a tattoo. And if she didn't do this mission right, Tsunade could be the target of an assassination. So mustering a determined look on her face, Sakura nodded and she moved towards the chair the tattoo artist was standing at. "All right. Then, let's get this over with."

Yugao had to admit it, even if silently. But Sakura had a lot of spirit. She had been surprised at the pinkette's sudden change of mood. She hadn't expected her to be a terrified little girl one moment then change into a very determined person the next. "Wow." She whispered before smirking and moving over to watch.

The tattoo process wasn't as bad as Sakura had thought it would be. She had sat down in the chair and tried everything to relax, though she was doing somewhat better than she had thought she would. She just kept a straight face as the tattoo artist rubbed her arm with very strong alcohol, to help the sting a little. Then he began working the tattoo. The sting of the needles did hurt for a second but then Sakura got used to it.

Eventually she got bored and just stared out the window while the artist was applying the red swirls on her shoulder.

By the time the artist was finished, Sakura was nearly asleep in the chair. She only woke up because Yugao whacked her on the head, smirking. "Well, I'm glad to see that you're taking it well. It's done." She then pointed at her arm. "Look." She told her. Sakura blinked before sitting up straighter and looking down at her shoulder. She was surprised to see the red swirls on her arm, matching the very same one that Yugao wore on her arm. She blinked in surprise before looking up at Yugao, who smirked at her before holding out a hand to her. "Welcome to the ANBU. Now let's go get the last thing you need to complete your new title." The ANBU told her.

The next place they went as straight to the ANBU headquarters, itself. They had stopped by Sakura's apartment, though and Yugao made the pink haired young woman change her close to all black, something she didn't wear often. It was near the Hokage's admin building, which came as a surprise to Sakura. She hadn't known it was that close. It was here that Yugao pulled out her ANBU mask, placing it over her face. She turned to Sakura as she pulled out a long strip of black fabric, holding it out to her. "Wrap this around your head, hide your hair and face. Use it as a mask." She told her now stoically. "It's here where you will test your true face of ANBU. No one here is to know your true face. There are only a few you can trust with your real identity." She told the pinkette. Sakura nodded before doing as she was told. She took the long strip and began wrapping it around her head to hide her face and her plain identity.

Then they went inside.

Yugao led the way, pausing to make sure that Sakura didn't get side tracked. There were several pictures, statues and masks lined up along the main hall. Quite a few were aged and worn out though. And many were cracked, as if they had been in a terrible battle. Sakura could only guess that they had. Neither one spoke as they walked down the hall, coming to a room where there was someone sitting in the middle of the floor. It was a young man, with a pure white mask sitting on his lap. He was biting his tongue as he applied icy blue paint to the ceramic piece. But as soon as the two women entered, he looked up. He just stared at Yugao for a moment before smiling and setting the mask down. Sakura couldn't help but stare at the mask though.

"Hey, Wolf. Long time no see. I see you still haven't broken your mask. Good. It just means you're taking care of it." The man remarked cheerfully before looking at Sakura. "Well, who's your friend?"

Yugao just moved forward, before motioning to Sakura as she slowly followed. "This is Tiger, Artesian. We're here for her ANBU mask." She said simply. "Have you finished it, or have been you been goofing off again?"

The young man, Artesian just made a face at Yugao before nodding as he slowly pushed himself to his feet. He even managed to roll his eyes while waving at the violate haired ANBU. "Geez. Don't bite my head off. I don't always goof off. And either way, I always get the job done before the pick up. And I got it done." He said, sounding way too proud of himself. He went straight to one of the walls where there were several masks hanging up. It surprised Sakura on how many. So many animalistic faces peering at her. It was kind of creepy. But the mask that Artesian was after was a cat's face mask. No, not a cat's face. A tiger's. It was white like the others but in addition of four brilliant pink stripes on both sides of the mask.

Yugao just tilted her head to the side as she and Sakura watched Artesian take down the tiger's mask and move towards them again. "So, that's the mask?" She asked.

Artesian just nodded as he held out the mask to Sakura, who slowly took it from him. "Yep! And I put a lot of care into that one, after all that you said about your new partner, Wolf." He said sounding proud of his work.

In a way, Sakura had to agree with him. The mask in her hands was rather beautiful. The mask was glossy white while the pink stripes on the sides were the same color as her hair. She was amazed by this mask. It was a work of art that she hadn't ever seen before. She knew very well that she might have to wear some kind of bandanna though to hide her hair. If the ANBU really had to hide their identities from most, she would have to hide her hair too. There weren't a lot of pink haired ninja in the Leaf Village as it was. But with a faint smile on her face, even though it was hidden from the mask maker, she gave him a nod of thanks. "Thank you, Artesian. It's beautiful."

Both Yugao and the Artesian looked over at her, somewhat surprised, though the artist was looking mightily pleased that he was actually being thanked for the mask. He never got thanked for one of his masks. Never. Not even from Yugao. But smiling brightly, he placed his hand onto his waist and grinned at her as he used his other hand to rub the back of his neck, sheepishly. "Why, thank you for thanking me, Tiger! You're so generous!" he said pleasantly.

Sakura just smiled before she turned her back to them and pulled off the cloth away from her face and placing the mask over her face. Once it was in place, she turned back, looking at the two pleasantly. "So, how do I look?" She asked, hopefully.

Yugao made a sound as if she was laughing softly and she even shook her head as she placed her hands onto her waist. She then nodded to Sakura, as if approving. "You look like a real ANBU agent. Not a bad job at all, Artesian. It's definitely one of your best." She told him.

"Wow, Wolf. Coming from you, that's a real honor. You never compliment on anything." Artesian said smugly.

Yugao rolled her eyes under the mask and motioned to Sakura to follow her. She was obviously tired of being there now. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't let it go to your head, you numbskull. Just keep up the good work, will yah?" She went straight to the door with Sakura, pausing only once. "You'll get your payment soon enough. The Hokage, herself, might be the one paying for Tiger's mask, if she likes it." She told him. "Come on, Tiger. Let's get back to training. You need to get used to the mask and fighting."

* * *

To say the least, it wasn't easy moving around with the mask on her face, Sakura realized. She realized it was a little hard to see past the slits for eyes. But it was thankfully to Neji's training that helped her a lot. She now realized why Yugao suggested why she took a few evasive lessons from the Hyuga Prodigy. It was better to listen to the sounds around her than to try to see past the mask. Now that she was becoming ANBU, Sakura figured it was time to change her image a little. So instead of leaving her hair down, she pulled it up, which helped a lot. It kept the pink strands out of her face and it was easier to hide behind the cloth.

Finally, the month was up and the ANBU training was over.

The message from Tsunade came not too long after noon, when Sakura and Yugao were training with Team Gai again. Sakura was working on target practice with Tenten while the others watched as the two ladies hit nearly bulls eyes on each of the targets. Rock Lee had actually stood up and began to cheer for Sakura when she finally managed to land a bulls eye. It stunned Sakura nonetheless when she hit the target dead center. She couldn't believe she had finally done it. After weeks of practice with Tenten, she finally managed to get a bulls eye.

"I….I did it." She murmured before her face grew very bright and she threw a fist into the air. "Yes! I did it! I did it!"

Everyone laughed as they watched her celebrate. Tenten just shook her head and smiled as she watched her pink haired friend. "You're doing so much better! You are definitely improving." She remarked.

It was right at that moment, someone appeared right behind Sakura, making her grow tense before she whirled around and lashed out a fist. It really couldn't be helped. After training with Yugao, she had learned to never let her guard down. So she really couldn't stop herself. She seemed way too surprised that she nearly punched the person though. But even more surprised when he caught her fist from hitting him in the face.

"Good job, Sakura. You're definitely improving." Kakashi stated lightly, not worried at all that he nearly got his face punched in.

Sakura gasped sharply as she quickly withdrew her fist and covered her mouth with shock. "Oh! Kakashi-sensei! I am so sorry! I swear! I didn't mean to do that!" She said, though everyone was laughing.

Kakashi just smiled at her through his mask and waved her apology away. In truth, he was happy that she had done it. "Sakura, don't apologize and don't call me sensei anymore. We're the same rank now. I'm no longer your sensei." He then stuffed his hands into his pockets, turning slightly to look over at Yugao as well. "Actually, I've come here on the request of Tsunade. She's called for you. It seems to me….." he paused for a second. "That you will be beginning your mission today."

That made almost everyone stop laughing, looking surprised. Both Yugao and Sakura looked at him, the most surprised but then they grew very serious as they glanced at one another. So they would be starting the mission. This was something not to laugh about. Yugao then stood up and brushed off her pants. She looked directly at Kakashi and nodded. "Thank you, Kakashi-taichou. We will go see her right now." She looked to Sakura, giving her a nod. "Let's go, Sakura." She said.

Sakura nodded, looking as serious as she did before giving Team Gai a smile of gratitude. "Thank you, guys. I don't think I could do this mission without your help. I owe you guys a lot. You've done so much for me and I just don't know what I can do to repay you." She told them.

"Well, I know what Lee's going to ask for repayment." Tenten said giving her cheerful teammate a dry stare.

Sakura sweat dropped. She knew very well what Rock Lee would ask for too. It would mean she would have to accept a date with him. She just could only hope that this mission would keep her a little busy so that she didn't have to go on a date. But to save her the sudden trouble, Yugao was already moving away, motioning to her to follow. "Come on, Sakura. Let's not waste any time." She told her.

"Right!" Sakura said, somewhat grateful before Lee could even ask. She gave Team Gai a wave before hurrying after her ANBU partner. She ran along side her, giving her a thankful look, which the violate haired ANBU returned with a smirk.

The two kunoichi quickly arrived in Tsunade's office, fully dressed as ANBU. Sakura had wanted to get dressed in her new ANBU outfit she and Yugao had picked out. It was almost the same as her former outfit, only all black, with addition of dusty pink embroidery on the edges. Either way, when Sakura and Yugao walked in, fully dressed as ANBU, Tsunade looked surprised. She looked her apprentice over with astonishment as she stood before her, still as a board.

"Wow. Sakura….you definitely look different." The Fifth Hokage said as she looked her over then motioned for her to remove the mask. "As for the Emotion situation? Did you sort that out?"

Sakura pushed the mask up onto her head and gave her mentor a smile as she nodded. She then formed the right hand signs, like Sai had showed her before looking directly into Tsunade's eyes. "Seal Activate." She stated, and she felt the emotions immediately lock up inside of her and her face settle to being black.

Of course, much like Yugao had done before, Tsunade pulled a face as she watched the blank look settle onto Sakura's face. She wasn't really amused too much. "Geez, that look really doesn't suit you." She remarked.

"So I've heard." Sakura said, somewhat dryly.

Tsunade smiled again though, impressed with how much Sakura had changed during the last month. She knew very well that this mission was going better than she had hoped. Well, the preparations were anyway. She frowned again as she looked down at her desk thoughtfully. She knew very well that Sakura was not going to like the initiation to getting in Root though. "So, your mission starts tonight, you two." She looked right back at the two, giving them a serious look. "You already know the seriousness of this mission and it is a must succeed mission. You must find out what Danzo is hiding from us and find out what he is up to. But there is one minor problem about you getting into Root." She didn't blame the two for frowning so seriously after hearing that. "I have already submitted your ANBU names to joining Root, but I'm afraid that Danzo is being a little…..stubborn about the entire situation. He's requested a test for the both of you. He's skeptical that you have what it takes to become Root ANBU. So he has requested that you attend a mission tonight." Her eyes narrowed right at Sakura when she spoke this part. "An ANBU mission." She stated, now picking up a scroll.

Both Yugao and Sakura frowned at the sound of the mission. They didn't like this at all. Yugao, of course, knew that it must have been a serious mission, but Sakura wasn't even sure what kind of mission it might be. She knew that the ANBU took on the most elite missions and that was what made her somewhat nervous.

Yugao, however, grew more serious at each word the Fifth Hokage, her head dipping low. She knew very well what was coming. "So, he needs persuasion?" She sighed softly. "What is our target and where is it taking place?" She ignored Sakura when she gave her a curious look. Tsunade just sighed softly, her eyes closing but she shook her head and held out the scroll to the ANBU. She didn't open her eyes as the violate haired woman moved forward and took the scroll. And she didn't even open her eyes when she opened it, reading it. But she did open her eyes when Sakura breathed in sharply when she read over her partner's shoulder, seeing what they were to do.

_**Mission: Assassination  
Rank: S  
Target: Yukino Echi-The Baroness of the Land of Snow/Spring. **_

_**Mission Status:  
The Baroness of the Land of Snow/Spring will be arriving in the Land of Waves, on an errand for the Snow Princess, Koyuki Kazahana. It is a fact that she is carrying a secret scroll to give to a rivaling village. The mission is to locate the baroness, assassinate her and steal the secret scroll for observation. **_

_**The Baroness will be guarded by Snow Ninja, whom have joined forces with Princess Koyuki.**_

Sakura slowly shook her head as she looked the information over, her hand over her mouth and her eyes wide with horror. She couldn't believe that Danzo was making her do this mission. Especially when the Land of Snow/Spring had such strong ties with the Leaf Village. She looked at Tsunade, horrified. "Tsu-Tsunade-shishou! We….we can't do that mission! To….to assassinate someone from Koyuki's faculty…….!" She was saying.

"We will do as we are required to do, Tiger." Yugao said, now loss of emotion. "I understand why you are concerned with this mission. I have heard that you went on a mission with Team Seven to protect the Princess of Snow/Spring and you have a connection with her. But this is the mission that Danzo wants us to do."

Sakura felt tears filling her eyes as she looked at her partner with shock but then she looked over at Tsunade. "Shishou!" She cried out.

Tsunade sighed as she folded her hands together and closed her eyes. She knew very well how much this would hurt Sakura. But it must have been done. Her eyes opened again and she gave her apprentice a very sharp look. "Sakura, you will do this mission. This is the mission Danzo wants you to do. I've already tried to make him to change his mind but he won't be persuaded otherwise. You can't reason with this man. Besides, Yukino Echi is not close to Princess Koyuki. So you will go on this mission and you will do as you are told! If you can't complete the mission, god forbid it, there will be serious consequences! Remember what is at stake here, Sakura!"

Taking deep gulps of breath and trying not to start getting too emotional, Sakura lowered her head and nodded. "I'm sorry, Shishou. I….I just…." She paused looking at her again. "What if Koyuki finds out? Wouldn't this disrupt the peace between the Leaf and the Spring Villages?" She asked.

There was a pause as Tsunade closed her eyes again, sighing as if a little frustrated. But Yugao shook her head as she made a side glance to Sakura. "This is going to be a covert operation, Sakura. ANBU are to never make contact with anyone else but the target. So therefore, no one will know about this mission but the ANBU, the Hokage and the client." She told her in a grave tone.

Sakura shivered as she tried hard to maintain herself before she sighed and lift her head, keeping the tears back from falling. She gave Tsunade a nod, though she really did not like this at all. But she knew that she really didn't have much of a choice. So with a forlorn look, she accepted it. "Very well, Tsunade-shishou. I will accept this mission." She told her glumily.

The Fifth Hokage gave her a look of sympathy either way. She knew very well of how much pain her student was in by accepting this mission. "I'm sorry, Sakura. That I have to make you do this. But it is for the best. You have to make an impression on Danzo. You have to convince him that you belong in Root. In a way, you have to get close to him so that you can find out what he's hiding. If there was any other way, I would do it that way immediately. You know I would." She said softly before looking stern again. "But Danzo is not a soft person. He's as hard as a rock and cold as ice. No, not ice. A glacier at the bottom of the earth. No one knows why. I remember my former sensei, Saturobi told me that Danzo was not always the way he is. But something happened that caused him to be this way. And I want you to find out." She then looked away. "The information you need is in the scroll. You are to have it done by the end of the week. Good luck." She told them both.

There was a very long awkward pause between all three of them but then Yugao and Sakura bowed to Tsunade and then turned to leave. Sakura had to pause to look at Tsunade, who met her eyes. They both knew that the pinkette was not ready for a mission that dealt with assassinating another living being. But they really didn't have another choice. Sakura gave her mentor a pained look before following Yugao out of the room.

The Fifth Hokage only sighed and looked up the four pictures of the earlier Hokages, her eyes stopping on the Third. "The nightmare for Sakura has only began."


End file.
